Panel construction



Aug. 11, 1959 W. B. WALKER PANEL CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 21, 1956 w G 'W 0 v G v O a 9 o c Q o o 0 o l O O O O O O a O f O O O O O T T 1&4 11:3;5

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in L" /NVENTO/? ELLE-=5 I24 m Wu rm 5. WALKER A row/vans United States Patent 2,899,028 PANEL CONSTRUCTION Walter B. Walker, Allen Park, MlclL, assignor to Walker Supply 8; Manufacturing Company, Ecorse, Mich.

Application December 21, 1956, Serial No. 629,892 '5 Claims. (Cl.'189-34) such a panel, it is important to'consider labor and material costs, etliciency in performing the intended function, and appeal to the building designer.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a sturdy building panel which can be quickly and easily handled and assembled in the field, and which also is adaptable for ready assembly at the factory site.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a one-piece building panel which is simple in construction, easy and economical to produce, and etficient in use.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a metal building panel, particularly adapted for floor and ceiling deck construction, which panel results in a deck formed of box sections disposed closely together to form a flat top and bottom.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a one-piece metal building panel constructed according to the present invention, a portion of the length of the panel being broken out to conserve space. This construction is particularly well adapted for use with a plywood and tile type fioor.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a metal building deck which is constructed of several building panels such as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the panel shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section of a panel such as shown in Fig. 1, the portion shown in dotted lines being removed to provide a starting section.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section of a panel such as shown in Fig. 1, the portion shown in dotted lines being removed to provide a finishing section.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a section of a wall formed by modifying the panel design shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a concrete floor structure formed by use of a modified panel.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a deck section showing a rounded cell configuration.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is 2,899,028 Patented Aug. 11, 19 59 to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, a metal building panel is designated at 10. The panel is formed of a suitable sheet material, such as steel or aluminum, by a rolling operation without further fabrication. The sheet is 'formed into a fiat top portion 12 which is normally six or eight inches wide. A downturned flange 14 is provided at One end of the top portion 12. This flange 14 is disposed at substantially a right angle to the top portion 12 and is approximately one inch long. A reinforcing rib 16 may be formed in the flat top portion 12 by a V-shaped depression as shown.

At the other end of the flat top portion 12, the panel is bent downwardly and then upwardly to provide an upwardly opening channel 18. This channel 18 is slightly more than one inch in depth since it is intended to seat a flange 14 on an adjacent panel in a completed deck construction.

The panel is then bent downwardly again to a suitable depth such as 1%, 3 or 4 inches, depending on the intended usage, to complete a substantially S-shaped bend. This provides a downwardly opening channel 20. The panel bending is continued until an open top box-shaped cell section 22 is provided having sidewalls 23 and 25 and an upwardly extending edge 24. The cell section is preferably six or eight inches wide.

Fig. 2 of the drawings shows how several panel sections 10, such as shown in Fig. 1, are joined to form a construction such as a ceiling or floor deck. The starting panel section is shown at the left end in Fig. 2, and is also shown in Fig. 4. It will be noted that the fiat portion 12 has been removed. The starting panel section is designated as 10S.

The finishing section is designated as 10F. This section has the cell portion 22 removed. Between the starting section 10S and the finishing section 10F (Fig. 2), four regular panels 10 are disposed. The panels are joined together by welding in suitable places such as shown at W. This panel deck construction provides a substantially flush top surface and a substantially flush bottom surface. In addition, the cell portions, which are disposed closely together, greatly strengthen the deck construction. The one piece panels are suitable'for easy trimming to provide modified sections such as the starting and finishing sections. A multiple piece assembly would be ditficult to cut to size.

The cell portions 22, in addition to providing maximum strength, provide housings within which wires or conduits can be positioned. Also, insulating material can be placed within those housings if desired.

The deck shown in Fig. 2 could be used as a floor deck, for example. In such an instance, a material such as plywood would be applied on top of the deck, and a finishing material such as tile would be applied over the plywood. The bottom portion of the deck might well constitute a ceiling for the space beneath it. If so, the holes 26 can be provided in the cell portions to afford an acoustical type ceiling.

Fig. 6 demonstrates the use of my panel in an outside wall construction. The fiat portion 112, downturned edge 114, channels 118 and 120, cell portion 122, cell sidewalls 123 and 125, and upturned edge 124 are provided similar to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. However in this embodiment the sidewalls 123 and 125 of the cell 122 are slanted. This renders the wall construction air tight, since the outside air does not blow directly into the juncture of adjoining cells.

Fig. 7 shows a modified form of my panel which is used with a concrete surface, such as a floor construction for example. It will be noted that in this construction 3 3 the'cell sidewalls 223 and 225 are slanted toward each other. Also, the flat portions 212 face downwardly, and the cells 222 extend upwardly. In this position, notches are provided between the cells to form step portions 227 in the concrete C. The resulting concrete surface is securely aflixed to the metal panel deck.

Fig. 8 is another modification of the present invention showing the use of rounded cells 322.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a simple and effective panel construction which is conducive to versatile and attractive building design.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A one piece building panel, comprising a flat sheet formed into two adjacent opposed box members, each having a flat body portion and end flanges; a narrow downturned first end flange at the outer end of the first flat body portion; a wide uptur-ned end flange at the opposite outer end of the second flat body portion; both box members integrally joined by an s-shaped intermediate section formed by the inside end flanges of the opposed box members, said S-shaped section forming an upwardly opening first groove and a downwardly opening second groove; said box members being of substantially the same width but different depths, the upwardly opening first groove of the S-shaped section being adapted to seat the downturned narrow end flange of a similar panel and the downward opening second groove beam adapted to seat the upper end portion of the upturned end flange of a similar panel.

2. A one piece building panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the flat body portion of each opposed box member has a decorative longitudinal strengthening rib placed therein.

3. A one piece metal building panel which is cooperable with a plurality of similar panels to render possible a cellular deck construction that is substantially flat on both top and bottom, comprising a flat top portion having a down-turned channel at one end thereof and an upturned channel at the other end thereof, said up-turned and down-turned channel members separated by an S-shaped intermediate section forming an upwardly opening first groove and a downwardly opening second groove on the inside integrally joined ends of said channel members, the upwardly opening portion of the S-shaped section being adapted to seat the down-turned end flange of a similar panel, the downwardly opening portion of the S-shaped section seating the up-turned edge flange of another similar panel.

4. A building panel as defined in claim 3, wherein a section of the cell has sidewalls slanted in the same direction; the cooperation of said similar panel members to form a double walled cellular structure, the flat top and bottom portions of said panel members being maintained in generally parallel relationship.

5. A building panel as defined in 'claim 3 wherein a section of the cell has sidewalls slanted toward each other; the cooperation of said similar panel members to form a double walled cellular structure, the flat top and bottom portions of said panel members being maintained in generally parallel relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS France Oct. 17, 1951 

